China’s corruption watchdog moves to crackdown on bribe-givers

Figures from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection say more than 5,000 people were detained for offering corrupt payments last year

Historically, people paying bribes could expect lighter sentences than those accepting them, but now they risk being added to a blacklist

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Those caught giving bribes usually recieved lighter sentences that those accepting the payments. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 9:00am, 1 Mar 2022

Chinese anti-corruption police detained more than 5,000 people accused of paying bribes last year, according to figures from the anti-corruption watchdog.

In 2021, anti-corruption agencies in the country detained 5,006 people for giving bribes and transferred 2,822 to prosecutors for trial.

The figures were included in a report made public by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the Communist Party’s top disciplinary watchdog, last week.

The report reviewed last year’s anti-corruption campaign and this year’s proposed tasks and targets for 2022, including increasing efforts to combat bribery and establish a black list of those offering corrupt payments.

Under President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption drive, both the Supervision Law and the ninth Criminal Law Amendment have increased the penalties for offering bribes.

“The number of bribe-giving cases [we] handled from January to November 2021 increased significantly, involving a total of 2,717 people, up 18.3 per cent compared to 2020,” Shi Weizhong, director of the third procuratorial office of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, told Procuratorial Daily.